Before you sign your child up for gymnastics, you need to consider all that it entails. Here are some things you need to know about gymnastics and its benefits.
Expectations
Tell your child that no one expects them to do flips on the first day. It’ll start out slow to make sure your child understands and knows the basics. Before kids ever start on tumbling, the bars or the balance beam, they have to learn how to lunge, hollow, straddle, pike, tuck and arch. These basic positions will be helpful in assuming the correct form and being flexible while doing flips and other moves.
Gymnastics requires that everyone learn the basics before they can go on to master more complicated moves. When children start out, instructors help kids to develop their listening skills, they teach them how to warm up, the importance of stretching and taking care of their bodies with proper nutrition and staying hydrated. Instructors also show kids the basics on pointing toes and being safe while doing gymnastics.
Dress Code
It’s important to be prepared for every gymnastics class. Children need to be properly dressed. This means that they should avoid wearing tights, baggy clothes or anything that can slip off easily. Leotards and compression shorts are preferred. If your child does not want to wear compression shorts with a leotard, it’s advisable for you to use double-sided tape or adhesive to keep the leotard from riding up. You need to gently wash these to help them to keep looking their best and to prevent odors.
Avoid wearing jewelry, even though stud earrings are okay to wear. Don’t wear lotion, this can cause kids to slip on the uneven bars, the horse, floor and balance beam. Long hair also needs to be kept out of the face at all times, so it will need to be tied back into a bun or braids so it won’t distract or blind a student while they’re in motion.
Be on Time
It’s important not to arrive late so as to not distract the other students and to have sufficient time to stretch, warm up and learn new information. This means that it’s important for children to do housework and homework in a timely manner because time needs to be reserved for class time.
Fuel/Hydrate
Your child should avoid eating heavy meals directly before class as this can cause stomachaches. Keep water bottles on hand for your child so they can stay hydrated.
Confidence
Introductory skills will not only teach your kids basic moves, they’ll help your child to have confidence in their ability. Gymnastics teaches children that they can learn something new and have confidence to tackle other things in life.
Social Skills and Comradery
It’s important that children learn how to interact with their peers to learn communication skills. Being on a team teaches children comradery which will create mutual encouragement and support.
Discipline
Gymnastics helps to shape young individuals to be disciplined adults. Like any other sport, gymnastics teaches children discipline. Gymnastics shapes a young individual’s life, which ultimately sets them up for success down the road whether or not they choose to compete.
Self-Care
Along with gaining confidence, gymnastics helps children to increase their self-esteem. Taking care of your health and engaging in an activity you love is a form of self-care, which helps to create healthy individuals.
Physical Health
Gymnastics builds strength, provides benefits for cardiovascular health, increases flexibility for range of motion and provides numerous benefits for emotional health, which helps to decrease stress and which indirectly impacts physical health. Gymnastics helps to build strong hearts, improve circulation, fight obesity and diabetes, and it sets children up for a lifetime of healthy habits.
